Marve and the Firstborn of the Sun: Mining Your Culture for New Fantasy Ideas episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 18, 2025 · 48 MIN

Marve and the Firstborn of the Sun: Mining Your Culture for New Fantasy Ideas

from Mythmakers

An exciting new voice has arrived in the epic fantasy genre. In this episode of Mythmakers, Julia Golding is joined by author Marvellous Michael Anson—known as Marve—to discuss her trilogy, The Firstborn of the Sun. Marve shares how her Nigerian heritage has shaped her writing, the role of her grandmother as the source of oral storytelling, and how to handle romance without heading down the romantasy direction. Join Julia and Marve as they dive into the topic of diversity in publishing, as well as the impact of AI, and so much more. Marve's book is available for purchase from October 2025, you can preorder it now and learn more about her and her works at https://www.justmarve.org/home (00:05) Creating New Mythologies in Fantasy (10:48) Exploring Love and Cultural Roots (15:35) Diversifying Voices in Fantasy Publishing (21:24) Cultural Authenticity in Creative Storytelling (30:34) Character Descriptions and Cultural Representation (37:58) Exploring Magic and Creativity in Fantasy For more information on the Oxford Centre for Fantasy, our writing courses, and to check out our awesome social media content visit: Website: https://centre4fantasy.com/website Instagram: https://centre4fantasy.com/Instagram Facebook: https://centre4fantasy.com/Facebook TikTok: https://centre4fantasy.com/tiktok

An exciting new voice has arrived in the epic fantasy genre. In this episode of Mythmakers, Julia Golding is joined by author Marvellous Michael Anson—known as Marve—to discuss her trilogy, The Firstborn of the Sun. Marve shares how her Nigerian heritage has shaped her writing, the role of her grandmother as the source of oral storytelling, and how to handle romance without heading down the romantasy direction. Join Julia and Marve as they dive into the topic of diversity in publishing, as well as the impact of AI, and so much more. Marve's book is available for purchase from October 2025, you can preorder it now and learn more about her and her works at https://www.justmarve.org/home (00:05) Creating New Mythologies in Fantasy (10:48) Exploring Love and Cultural Roots (15:35) Diversifying Voices in Fantasy Publishing (21:24) Cultural Authenticity in Creative Storytelling (30:34) Character Descriptions and Cultural Representation (37:58) Exploring Magic and Creativity in Fantasy For more information on the Oxford Centre for Fantasy, our writing courses, and to check out our awesome social media content visit: Website: https://centre4fantasy.com/website Instagram: https://centre4fantasy.com/Instagram Facebook: https://centre4fantasy.com/Facebook TikTok: https://centre4fantasy.com/tiktok

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Marve and the Firstborn of the Sun: Mining Your Culture for New Fantasy Ideas

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This episode is 48 minutes long.

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This episode was published on September 18, 2025.

What is this episode about?

An exciting new voice has arrived in the epic fantasy genre. In this episode of Mythmakers, Julia Golding is joined by author Marvellous Michael Anson—known as Marve—to discuss her trilogy, The Firstborn of the Sun. Marve shares how her Nigerian...

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